Until Wednesday this week, Councillor Baggy Shanker was cabinet member for finance and governance in the Labour-led administration which lost its overall majority in the Derby City Council elections on May 3.

At the first full council meeting following the election last Wednesday, the Conservatives, with the voting support of the Lib Dems and UKIP on the council, secured leadership of a minority administration under Tory group leader Councillor Chris Poulter.

Mr Shanker penned the following article as a message to Mr Poulter about his satisfaction that his group had left finances in good condition "in the face of the most harsh cuts to council budgets" and how the administration coped with those cuts.

Mr Shanker wrote the piece before it was revealed by the Tory administration on Friday that the ongoing A52 roadworks were in peril after they were told that the cost - originally £15 million - would double to £30 million with the need to find £8 million of that almost immediately. An inquiry into the situation is to take place.

Councillor Asaf Afzal, with the responsibility for the project in the previous Labour administration, denied knowing the extent of the problems until two weeks ago when he was asked about the A52 situation on Friday.

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The piece was also written before Mr Poulter announced that his administration would be review the Moorways pool project and possibly reduce it from 50m to 25m to allow for more family leisure facilities.

It was also written before it emerged that the new administration intend to press ahead with plans to re-open the Assembly Rooms at a cost of about £10 million in the next 18 months, rather than rebuild the venue at a cost of £42 million in the next five years.

This is what Mr Shanker wrote:

Councillor Baggy Shanker with the Labour manifesto booklet

It has become part of Westminster folklore that a former Treasury Chief Secretary left a note to his successor claiming “there is no money”.

However light-hearted the intention may have been, the quip caused quite a stir.

Fortunately, for Councillor Chris Poulter and his Tory colleagues, there will be no need for such a note now they have taken control of Derby City Council.

But the fact they are inheriting a balanced budget is not something to be taken lightly. It has been achieved in the face of the most harsh cuts to council budgets.

I am proud to have been part of a Labour leadership that has steadied the ship since we took control of the authority in 2012. During that time, our Government grant has been slashed by over a massive 40%.

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Of course, we were not the only council to face such savage budget reductions. But where we differed from others is that we grasped the nettle early on and started taking the difficult decisions to keep our city afloat.

Look no further than Tory-controlled Northamptonshire Council for proof of that. Unwilling to challenge their political allies as we did through our much publicised Fair Deal for Derby campaign, that council buried its head in the sand instead of tackling the issue.

They are now on the verge of bankruptcy, and every service is in perilous danger.

We have been criticised for some of our decisions, like changing the way libraries are managed. Yet our libraries remain open.

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Our political opponents have mocked changes to how we deliver Streetpride services. Yet our grass verges, parks and open spaces are still maintained reasonably well and we had plans for further improvements.

Opportunist councillors from other parties have sought to imply failures in vital services like education and provision for young people, yet our children’s services have been cited as 'good' by Ofsted.

None of this has been achieved easily. We have had to take criticism on the chin because it is easy for political opponents to promise the earth when they don’t need to deliver against it.

Councillor Baggy Shanker shakes hands with John Kirkland, chairman of Bowmer and Kirkland, after the preferred contractor for building the new Moorways pool is announced

Tough decisions have been taken. We have faced Hobson’s Choice again and again, and we have been forced to implement changes not of our making.

The result of all of that is that services have survived and our finances are stronger than those of many other councils, despite the awful cuts.

Our balance sheet is stronger with our general reserves balance at £10.9 million and earmarked reserves are also healthy.

Despite Tory Government cuts, we have kept council tax bills down to less than £20 a week for the majority of our households, still one of the lowest in the country.

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And the Tories will reap the rewards of our successful pitching to be part of a business rates pool pilot, giving an extra £6m of income next year to be reinvested in services.

Now it is time for the Conservatives to put their money where their mouth is. Empty pre-election pledges won’t cut it any more – it’s time for them to deliver against the endless promises they have made.

They might find it’s harder than they thought.

Let’s hope they continue our work to protect low income working age households through the generous council tax support scheme.

I dearly hope they don’t fund their promises by reversing our commitment to spend over £30 million on new affordable housing across the city.

Or the £10m refurbishment of the Market Hall, or the £50m Our City Our River scheme to improve flood defences.

It would be a travesty if our £33m new swimming pool complex at Moorways ground to a halt.

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Tory pledges to reopen the Assembly Rooms (despite abundant professional advice not to) must not be funded by Derby’s £42m new performance venue being sacrificed.

Few new administrations will inherit a council with such stable finances.

That is because we have played hard ball with the Tory Government, because we have been bold enough to think differently, and because we have been willing to take the tough decisions for which we get criticised.

We will monitor what happens next with interest.

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